"Look at This Smartphone App Twice Daily, Mrs Wilkinson"

Brace yourselves. Something involving the NHS sounds like a good idea. Doctors are now being advised to "prescribe" their patients smartphone apps, encouraging use of free and cheap little phone tools to manage their conditions.

No doubt a lot of people already use the oodles of free apps out there designed to monitor and manage various conditions, but the idea's soon to become part of official NHS advice.

Diabetes management, blood pressure tracking and stress advice apps are the sorts of tools that'll be suggested to users, plus use of more general apps will be encouraged, like ones that preach healthy eating and tell you where the nearest special clinic is when you've done something bad in the middle of the night.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Innovation and technology can revolutionise the health service, and we are looking at how the NHS can use these apps for the benefit of patients, including how GPs could offer them for free." [Department of Health via Telegraph]